A Comparison of Relationships in Stone Angel, Fire-Dwellers, and Diviners

651 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Lack of communication in relationships

Relationships in The Stone Angel, The Fire-Dwellers, and The Diviners

There are always problems in every relationship, in every marriage. With strong communication, acceptance and a love for one another, these challenges can be overcome. In Margaret Laurence's Manawaka Cycle, the characters all have enormous problems in their relationships. In the books The Stone Angel, The Fire-Dwellers, and The Diviners, the characters' marriages all have varying degrees of trouble. However, through hard work and perseverance, the partners survive and grow. Each relationship in these books has two or three problems, that when combined, become daunting. However, the characters' real problem is that they are alone in their marriage. Margaret Laurence states that "men and women suffer equally; the tragedy is not that they suffer, but that they suffer alone."1 These men and women are alone, not communicating nor respecting each other, which leads to personal problems in and in their confidence in themselves and each other.

In Laurence's The Stone Angel, Hagar Currie, a girl from town, marries Bram Shipley, a widowed country farmer. From the time of their marriage ceremony until Hagar leaves Bram, Hagar's sense of pride hurts her, Bram, and their marriage. Hagar gives the appearance to Bram and the community that she hates his looks, and is disgusted with him. Even at the dance where they first meet, Hagar reveals he...

... middle of paper ...

... Dictionary of Canadian Quotations and Phrases. (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979), 580.

2Margaret Laurence, The Stone Angel (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1964), 47.

3Laurence, The Stone Angel, 69.

Bibliography

Gray, John. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992.

Hamilton, Robert M. and Shields, Dorothy, eds. The Dictionary of Canadian Quotations and Phrases. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979.

Laurence, Margaret. The Diviners. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1974.

Laurence, Margaret. The Fire Dwellers. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1969.

Laurence, Margaret. The Stone Angel. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1964.

Show More
Related

  • Janie's Perfect Marriage In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human beings are not isolated individuals. We do not wander through a landscape of trees and dunes alone, reveling in our own thoughts. Rather, we need relationships with other human beings to give us a sense of support and guidance. We are social beings, who need talk and company almost as much as we need food and sleep. We need others so much, that we have developed a custom that will insure company: marriage. Marriage assures each of us of company and association, even if it is not always positive and helpful. Unfortunately, the great majority of marriages are not paragons of support. Instead, they hold danger and barbs for both members. Only the best marriages improve both partners. So when we look at all three of Janie’s marriages, only her marriage to Teacake shows the support, guidance, and love.

    Read More

  • Marriage in The Ceiling by Kevin Brockmeier

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brockmeier’s short story represents a damaged marriage between a husband and a wife simply due to a different set of values and interests. Brockmeier reveals that there is a limit to love; husbands and wives will only go so far to continually show love for each other. Furthermore, he reveals that love can change as everything in this ever changing world does. More importantly, Brockmeier exposes the harshness and truth behind marriage and the detrimental effects on the people in the family that are involved. In the end, loving people forever seems too good to be true as affairs and divorces continually occur in the lives of numerous couples in society. However, Brockmeier encourages couples to face problems head on and to keep moving forward in a relationship. In the end, marriage is not a necessity needed to live life fully.

    Read More

  • Petrified Man by Edra Welty

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...as the day we married.” (p 23) On the surface, all seems well; however if on looks closer one can see a very sad occurrence-taking place. Most couples who have lasted a goodly time together will not answer the question, “Do you love your spouse like the day you married?” Invariably man and wife will reply, “No, I love him/her more than the day we married.” Long married couples become closer. Intimacy grows in the physical as the couple’s love proportionally grows all more. The growth is palpable to the individuals within the marriage. Furthermore, as life’s hardships are over come together, the couple’s love will grow exponentially. Welty understands this yet chooses a different path for the Fletchers. Some place in time, either by Mrs. Fletchers pride or by Mr. Fletcher’s inability to deal with confrontation, the growth of which should have taken place will happen.

    Read More

  • The Family Crucible by Dr. Napier

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research of literature depends on the theory or topic one is researching. Research uncovers what the author knows about his or her discipline and its practices. Augustus Napier is a family therapist with vast experience in family therapeutic processes and experiential therapy with couples. In my research of his background, I reviewed his book “The Family Crucible.” In this text, Dr. Napier chronicles the therapeutic process of one fictitious family (which is a composite of real cases) experiencing marital discord. In reviewing the case studies in this book, I gained insight into his style of the therapeutic process, which exposed Dr. Napier’s framework which leads to his assumptions about marriage. The details of this case study coupled with Dr. Napier’s added paragraphs and chapters of analyses with his conclusions on the maladaptive reasons people marry other people make this resource of great qualitative value. Additionally, useful evaluative data revealing a deeper insight into Dr. Napier’s position on irreconcilable differences can be fo...

    Read More

  • Summary Of A History Of Marriage By Stephanie Coontz

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    A History of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz speaks of the recent idealization of marriage based solely on love. Coontz doesn’t defame love, but touches on the many profound aspects that have created and bonded marriages through time. While love is still a large aspect Coontz wants us to see that a marriage needs more solid and less fickle aspects than just love. The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures.

    Read More

  • The American Influence in Canadian Popular Culture

    1937 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.

    Read More

  • William Lyon Mackenzie King

    607 Words  | 2 Pages

    Quinlan, Don, Doug Baldwin, Rick Mahoney, and Kevin Reed. The Canadian Challenge. N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2008.

    Read More

  • The Two Eras that Made the Supreme Court the most Influential

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edwards III, C. George, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Linberry. “Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy”. Textbook.

    Read More

  • Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a fundamental difference between a democracy and a republic as it concerned the political entitlement of the citizenry. The citizens of a republic do not participate directly with governmental affairs. The citizens of a republic can however have a say in who does participate. The Roman republic has two prefect systems to prevent dictatorship which didn’t work.

    Read More

  • Comparing Canada and America

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Canada’s own identity starts with our remarkable sense of culture and customs. For the native peoples, the Canadian identity stretches thousands of years into the search of struggles to retain elements of their ancient culture. From a colonial perspective, the traditions which surface in Canadian culture seem to be born of an earlier time, of different origins and places, of old-fashioned rituals, and customs. Unlike the United States, its senior neighbor, Canada’s aged-like identity is more reserved and skillful, unwilling to commit it self to anything specific. Within each region of Canada-

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe

    3229 Words  | 7 Pages

    Bartlett, John. Famous Quotations Fourteenth Edition. Ed. Emily Morison Beck. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1968: 641-644.

    Read More

  • The Controversy Over the Electoral College System

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. American Politics and Government Today. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999, pgs. 325-327.

    Read More

  • Demand For Medical Care

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    The demand for medical care is derived from our demand for good health. Michael Grossman was the first to do econometric research on this topic. “Grossman’s work established two approaches for consideration. In the first, medical care is viewed as an input in the production function for health, and in the second, as an output produced by medical care providers (Henderson, p.142).” There are two main factors that determine the demand for medical care. The first is the patient factor. This includes a patient’s health status, demographic characteristics and economic status. The second is the physician factor. This is an interesting topic because it introduces the principal (patient)-agent (physician) problem. We are faced with the problem of diminishing marginal returns for health. At a certain point, we can only produce so much health. The question we need to ask ourselves is what is the optimal budget for medical care? This is a question that can not be easily answered due to our changing demand for medical care. If we get sick we demand more medical attention. Or, if we choose to live more dangerously this will also increase the demand. Therefore, who should pay for these increased costs for medical insurance? “Medical care spending is not the only thing that improves health. Other factors affecting health status, such as life-style, environmental pollution, and technological developments, will shift the total product curve (TV).” Figure 4.1, on the next page graphically shows that health status obeys the Law of diminishing productivity. The graph below the total product curve is the marginal product curve. The derivative of the total product curve is the marginal product curve. This curve represents the marginal change in health status. You can see this curve is negatively sloped and can be negative. The maximum point on the total product curve is the total amount of health that we can get out of life. You may know from calculus that the slope of a line at a maximum or minimum is zero. If you look down on the corresponding point on the marginal product curve it lies on the x-axis. All medical treatment after this point is negative. What does this mean? Yes, medical treatment can be harmful to your health if too much is applied. A good example of this is an X-ray. The radiation from multiple X-rays is extremely dangerous. This negat...

    Read More

  • Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... Ed. W. Gordon West and Ruth Morris. Toronto, Canada: A Canadian Scholar? Press, 2000.

    Read More

More about A Comparison of Relationships in Stone Angel, Fire-Dwellers, and Diviners

Open Document